 A confession: I'm not a premier-league ABBA fan. I don't know all the words to all their songs. I only have one ABBA album, and it's a post-'70s compilation (ABBA Gold). But I felt like I'd reached a cultural Waterloo when I read these words, scrawled by a schoolgirl in the guestbook at Stockholm's Museum of Cultural History: "WHO IS ABBA?"
If only someone had read that S.O.S. and ushered the poor thing around the corner, into ABBA — The Exhibition. If only she had listened and watched as visitors hummed and danced along to the show's soundtrack, a medley of gems like "Fernando" and "Mamma Mia." If only she had read what others had written in that same book about Benny and Bjorn, Agnetha and Anna-Frid. "My love and my life, still my one and only," plagiarized Finnish visitor Heikki Piirainen. "ABBA ist eine Super-Band," wrote Fabian R. from Switzerland. And in case you were in any doubt at this point, Fumio from Japan says: "Everybody loves ABBA."
Well, maybe not everyone. If you think ABBA — The Songs might induce ABBA — The Nausea, then ABBA — The Exhibition isn't for you. It's an unapologetic love-fest. And for ABBA fans visiting Stockholm, it fills a longtime void. Until now, there has been no shrine to the group, a notable omission in a city where museums honor everything from water to wine and even puppets.
The exhibit's 10 parts trace the group's pre-history and history, from 18-year-old Bjorn's start as a member of the folk band Hootenanny Singers to the end of their joint career in 1984. The museum borrowed a number of items from ABBA, including Benny's childhood accordion and a selection of gold records. And it tracked down some of the over-the-top costumes by designer Owe Sandstrom, who explains the logic (?) behind the outfits. ("A twirl, no matter how small, would make the skirt fly up," Sandstrom says of Frida's outfit for "Mamma Mia.")
Also on show are the memorabilia collections of three fans: Swede Thomas Nordin and Norwegians Hjordis Johansen and Kari Bye. They all started collecting — obsessively — in 1974, when ABBA burst onto the scene by winning the Eurovision song contest with "Waterloo." Nordin, Johansen and Bye have cemented places in superfandom by owning (and publicly admitting to owning) things like Bjorn and Benny paper dolls, coffee mugs and vinyl ABBA coin purses.
The exhibit's curator, Agneta Ehrensvard of Sweden's Royal Dramatic Theater, tries (a little) to put ABBA in a historical and sociological context. One wall is devoted to a display on 1970s politics, philosophy and musical trends. There's a nod to ABBA's popularity with the gay community and "Dancing Queen"'s status as a gay anthem. And three mock-ups show what young fans might have had in their bedrooms — records, dolls, posters — as they grew up with the group.
The show's weakest link is the ABBA slide show by Anders Hanser, a longtime friend of the band members. It does have some rare interview footage with Agnetha and Frida, who have become virtual recluses since the group split. But once you've reached 1984 and those familiar records stop spinning, walk out. The last half of the 45-minute show drags us through the post-ABBA careers of Bjorn and Benny, who have chased the money, money, money as eagerly as Agnetha and Anna-Frid have shunned it.
Birgitta Skarke of the Nordiska Museet says that, characteristically, Bjorn and Benny were at the exhibition's opening. Agnetha and Anna-Frid were not. But it was not just the two guys, but all four together who made musical history. For many people, especially those now working in Sweden's booming music industry, ABBA was a staple of 1970s cultural diet. Love 'em or hate 'em, they blazed a trail in global pop for artists, writers and producers from Sweden. They also provided tons of cover material for more recent acts, including Westlife, Steps and A-Teens.
And for the rest of us? Well, I only have to close my eyes and pick out that familiar track on my mental jukebox to be transported back to a high school dance. The guys tug at their bowties, the girls run off to the bathroom in packs of ten. The floor is empty and the spotlight searches vainly for someone to shine on. Then the familiar chords come on. Conversations are dropped, arms raised. And every girl in the room (plus a couple of the guys) becomes a Dancing Queen. What memories! What songs! It's about time someone said thank you for the music.
ABBA — The Exhibition runs until the 28th of October at the Nordiska Museet (Swedish Museum of Cultural History), Djurgarden, Stockholm
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